Marvel Teases Return of Classic Avengers Team

Iron Man and War Machine are reforming the West Coast Avengers.

By Timothy Adams

The final issue of Invincible Iron Man sets up the return of a classic Avengers team. With the anti-mutant group Orchis defeated and Feilong imprisoned, Tony Stark can start the slow process of rebuilding his life. The entire run of Invincible Iron Man featured the Armored Avenger working together with the X-Men, with friends like War Machine and even the Avengers helping out. Right now there's only one main Avengers title, but soon it'll be joined by Avengers Assemble spinning out of Blood Hunt, and another title that harkens back to a golden era for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Invincible Iron Man #20. Continue reading at your own risk!

Invincible Iron Man #20 comes from the creative team of Gerry Duggan, Andrea Di Vito, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Joe Caramagna. It mostly deals with Tony Stark cleaning up some loose ends, like Feilong's imprisonment on Arakko and his marriage to Emma Frost. However, the final pages take Iron Man out west to a Stark Industries hangar. Thanks to some psychic insider trading, Emma Frost gifted Tony Stark billions of dollars to help rebuild his life, which he used to buy an airstrip on the west side of Los Angeles. Together with James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark is bringing back the West Coast Avengers. 

While Iron Man doesn't have anything official to announce just yet, he does confirm that West Coast Avengers are coming. "Okay, and maaaybe we're starting a new West Coast Avengers," Iron Man's internal dialogue says as he and War Machine race into the air to stop a falling rocket. "Just don't tell anyone yet."

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(Photo: Marvel Comics)

Who are the West Coast Avengers?

Created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall, the West Coast Avengers debuted in a self-titled series back in 1984. It was the first spinoff of The Avengers and featured Hawkeye forming a team that consisted of Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man, and Iron Man (Jim Rhodes instead of Tony Stark). There have been several iterations of the West Coast Avengers over the years, with the most recent coming in 2018 with both Hawkeyes (Clint Barton and Kate Bishop) reviving the team.

Marvel has been setting up the West Coast Avengers' turn in the final issues of Invincible Iron Man. War Machine alluded to the recruitment of several villains that helped him and Iron Man take down Orchis, with Iron Man not against the idea. Who knows, perhaps Marvel Studios is considering using the name for a future project and this is Marvel Comics' way to get a new volume of West Coast Avengers into the hands of readers before that happens.

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